Results Europan 7

The Dutch Europan organisation received 168 entries. This year theme was Suburban Challenge - urban intensity and housing diversity. There where four locations in The Netherlands: Amsterdam (Geuzeveld Zuid), The Hague (Moerwijk-Zuid), Hengelo (O2) and Rotterdam (Zuidwijk).

The jury, with chairman Maarten Kloos, awarded four first prizes and three second prizes. Notable that two of the four first prizes ((Jesús Hernández & Elena Casanova from Spain and Ilse Castermans & Patrick Meijers the Netherlands) went to the winners of Europan 6 Dutch locations.

First prizes:

Amsterdam

Giacomo Summa (Italië/1976) with Cassius

By limiting the public space and the number of streets, the number of ground-level homes is increased to the limit. For the elongated plots an unlimited diversity of housing types is conceivable.

Quote from the jury assessment: 'After the extremes are carried through to their limit, the rigid grid offers space for an unrestrained diversity. Without falling prey to nostalgia, Cassius fulfils the ideals of the CIAM in a way that surpasses the original by Bakema.'

In the study area a number of clusters distinguish what are, in fact, composite, hybrid housing blocks. This also creates a large variation, at an urban level, one that is predominantly expressed in the many distinct public, collective and private spaces.

Quote from the jury assessment: 'Urban Morphing is convincing in numerous respects. The plan presents an elegant and pragmatic way of taking the area in hand, step by step. The plan offers great diversity. Not only in housing, but also in distinct forms of open space which, it may be expected, will be easier to manage and will function better than the indeterminable green strips now lying between the flats.'

Three-floor meandering buildings mark the transition from the town centre of Hengelo to the outlying districts. With their dimensions they assimilate with the villas in the vicinity, while this simultaneously distinguishes them from their surroundings.

Quote from the jury assessment: 'Suburban Metamorphosis provides an attractive and effective answer to the assignment. Thanks to the appropriate scale and almost nonchalant way in which the blocks meander through the area, it adjusts itself easily to its surroundings. At the same time the image of the new development is strong enough to give the area more structure.'

The basic concept of Nieuw Peil is grafted onto the original structure of Zuidwijk: a half-open structure of ground-level and stacked housing around a semi-public courtyard. Only the buildings in this instance have been lowered by half a floor so that the roofs of the low-rise buildings, covered with grass, form a green landscape. The ground-level housing is reached by an inner courtyard. Slopes are laid out on the street side, thus creating interspaces for private gardens

Quote from the jury assessment: 'Almost everything about Nieuw Peil betrays the craftsmanship of the designers. The cubic contents are perfectly situated, the design is meticulously crafted to the assignment and the site, and, moreover, according to many members of the jury, the architecture is of an unprecedented strength. The plan is a homage to the highpoints in modern architecture. And then not so much the modern architecture of the obligatory twenties and thirties, but more the under-appreciated fifties.'